On the horizon? Wave of momentum for high seas treaty

The Upper Seas Protection Treaty will not be launched by the time when the ocean conference opens in June, but stability by member states has prompted the prominent agreement towards legislation.

It was adopted in June 2023 after years of exhausting negotiations, the agreement aims to protect the vital marine habitats of humanity, but it is threatened with pollution in vast waters that exceed any national jurisdiction.

She now has 113 site, but only 21 has believed it.

After the past two weeks of United Nations meetings in New York – with the clear absence of the United States – the contents are approaching a “one step to form the institutional spine” of the agreement, “said Nicolas Clark of PEW charitable funds after the first preparatory committee to enter the treaty.

However, since the treaty cannot enter into force after 120 days of the sixty ratification, there is no opportunity for its legislation before the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France on June 9-13.

Experts now hope to reach the evaluation threshold 60 by June, so the treaty can still be in force this year.

The gentle summit will display dozens of heads of state and will be preceded by a conference that brings together 2000 worlds of about 100 countries.

Sandrine Barber, head of the French delegation, said that the special celebration in Nice on June 9 will be a “unique opportunity to reaffirm our collective political commitment” to implement the treaty.

In a sign of increased enthusiasm, the opening preparation committee has moved more quickly than expected through discussions on multiple issues, including formulating a system for exchanging information between the parties.

“Exciting”

Rebecca Hobard, director of the Hood Supreme Alliance, told the “lot of love in the room” for the treaty during the preparatory meetings.

“There was some progress and exciting movement” on the issue of marine protected areas that characterize the treaty.

However, enthusiasm was generally alleviated due to the absence of the United States-which signed the treaty during the era of Joe Biden, but it did not believe it-and the shock of Donald Trump in a major and controversial issue for the oceans: mining the depths of the seas.

On Thursday, the US President opened the door to the commercial extraction of rare ground minerals from the ocean hall, including in international waters, bypassing the jurisdiction of the International Sea Authority, in which Washington is not a member.

Trump’s executive is “an insult to pluralism and slap in the face of all countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry.”

“This is a clear sign that the United States will not be a global pioneer in ocean protection, which supports all life on this planet.”

Governments all over the world have offered a target to protect 30 % of global lands and oceans by 2030.

© 2025 AFP